This section provides background information related to the present disclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.
Outfitting vehicles with camera sensor systems for monitoring the environment about the vehicle is becoming increasingly common, particularly for autonomous vehicles and/or vehicles including advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). While current camera systems are suitable for their intended use, they are subject to improvement. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary prior art system in which a vehicle 10 has a single sensor camera 12. The sensor camera 12 is arranged about mid-way between a left and right side of the vehicle 10, and has a field of vision area A′. The field of vision area A′ is relatively narrow, and thus objects outside the field of vision area A′ are not visible to the sensor camera 12. Further, if a truck 16 or other vehicle is blocking the view of the sensor camera 12, as illustrated in FIG. 1, camera “blindspots” B1 and B2 will occur in the field of vision area A′. Objects, such as vehicle 14 present in blindspot B1, will not be visible to the sensor camera 12 when they are present in either of the blindspots B1 or B2. It would therefore be desirable to provide a broader field of vision, for example. The present teachings provide for an improved sensor system that has numerous advantages over current systems, as well as numerous unexpected results as one skilled in the art will recognize.